Chasing Down Guardians
by xoverlover
Summary: After the strange events of April 2012, the Wizarding World tries to figure out what went down in Burgess, USA. Harry just can't keep his nose off strange situations, but isn't there a limit on how many reality-changing revelations a person is allowed to have? Crossover, Gen.


**Crossover  
Harry Potter & Rise of the Guardians  
**

**Author Notes:  
**

_Yeah, I'm bringing you another crossover. I was actually through the middle of the next chapter for my Harry Potter x Young Justice crossover, and then I got invited to see the RotG movie. Guys, it's amazing. Beautiful animation, charming characters, and overall great story._

_This story will probably have one or two more chapters, and then it'll be done. (And the next chapter of "Young Justice and the Pentawizard Tournament" will probably be out by next weekend or sooner, so there's that!)  
_

_So that's all, and merry winter break, no matter what you celebrate! I haven't proof-read this enough, so feel free to point out any mistakes you spot while you read.  
_

* * *

**Chasing Down Guardians**

At thirty-two years of age and as one of the most respected Aurors in the force, Harry Potter had seen his fair share of strange things. Most of them he'd witnessed between the ages of eleven and eighteen, but even without near-death experiences and a Dark Lord behind you, there was plenty of wonder to be found in the Wizarding World. That didn't mean it was free of idiocy, though.

"What did you see on the night of April the tenth?"

Grunt.

"Answer me, young lady, or we'll be here all day."

Glare, and then the girl looked away stubbornly.

Harry sighed softly, running his fingers through his messy black hair as he watched the scene unfold in the small kitchen before him. Auror Conway had absolutely no charm with children, and Harry was beginning to doubt the man had ever seen one before today. The stout girl they had come to interrogate had not been very forthcoming to begin with, and after Conway's rude and stiff method of demanding answers, she had clammed up completely.

"Is all this really necessary?" the girl's mother asked, arms crossed over her chest worriedly. She was a very kind woman, very doting on her daughter and very protective of her. "Other cops have been here already to ask her these things. Can't you get the information from them?"

"We've tried, ma'am," Harry assured her, lowering his voice while tilting his head closer to her. "To tell you the truth, this is sort of an International oddity, so our people keep coming from all over the globe, and we're having a hard time not bumping heads. I promise we'll be out of your hair quickly."

"Thank you," the woman said, seeming mollified by his sincerity.

It must be quite hard for her to keep receiving aurors in her home, being a muggle woman married to a half-blood. Her husband was currently away on his job at a local magic-geared library, the only one in the quiet town of Burgess.

The magical community in the area was all but non-existent, with a population of merely two grown wizards and one witch in the whole town, as well as little Candace "Cupcake " Grund. Candace was a ten year old girl who would be starting in Salem Witches' Institute next fall, with short brown hair and eyes, and a stocky build that resembled her mother's. With that disgruntled look on her face, Harry was reminded of his ex-classmate Millicent Bulstrode, but there was vulnerability in Candace's pouting expression he didn't remember seeing in his strong-jawed classmate.

"Now, listen girl, if you continue refusing to answer, I'm going to charge you for the obstruction of an official investigation, and-!"

"I think that's enough, Auror Conway," he said, setting a hand on the man's arm to get his attention. "Maybe you should step outside for a moment?"

Conway looked like he very much didn't want to step outside, his crooked nose looking even more so with nostrils flaring. If Harry had to guess, part of that anger came from having an auror five years his junior hint that he had lost control. But the tall man did step away from the kitchen table, and out into the backyard, covered by uneven patches of snow.

Harry sighed and offered a sheepish smile to the little girl, taking the seat across from her and sending a light nod over to her mother. The woman seemed relieved to have Harry's partner out of her daughter's face, but the large girl across him was visibly steeling herself against anything he was thinking of saying. Normal means of interrogation wouldn't help, but they hadn't been much good to begin with. Fortunately, Harry had three children and one very active Godson back home, and though his little Lily was barely able to babble 'daddy', he knew how to deal with children.

"Sorry about Auror Conway. I'm not his favorite person to be around," he began, taking another look over her shape over the table. "You like unicorns, eh?"

Whatever the little girl had been expecting him to open with, it definitely hadn't been that. The girl blinked, looking from him to the unicorn-patterned sweater and back, looking a bit less wary than before. She shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head, but didn't say a word to him yet.

"That's nice. They're very beautiful creatures. We studied them in school, and there was even a herd of them living on the forest around the castle."

There it was. The girl's eyes widened, and she fidgeted in her seat.

"You—you've seen them?" she asked, trying to hide the excitement in her voice and failing. Harry smiled broadly.

"Oh, yes, I saw them a couple times. Stunning, really. The foals in particular: did you know they are born with their coats golden, and only turn silver when they mature?" The girl shock her head, hanging on to his every word. Unicorns were very popular among muggle and wizard children alike, but they were particularly rare in America. Last Harry heard, the only remaining herd was way up North in Canada. "You and your parents ought to visit Scotland, then. There are tours for the appreciation of rare magical creatures, unicorns included."

"That sounds amazing," she said in awe.

"It is," Harry assured her. "Your mum has my floo connection information, so if you guys ever decide to visit Scotland, give me a call. My friend Luna would be happy to accept you into her tour."

"Okay." The girl was actually very cute when she smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Candace."

"Cupcake's fine."

Harry held back a chuckle when he spotted her reddening ears, and just nodded instead.

"Cupcake, then. I know there's been wizard coppers bothering you all week, and I don't want to annoy you. But I need to ask: is there anything you'd like to share with me about that particular night Auror Conway was asking you about?"

Cupcake's brows furrowed, but it wasn't with the same frustration with which she'd faced Conway.

"I don't want to talk about it," she muttered.

Harry's eyebrows arched.

"Well, that's okay. Is there any reason why you won't tell me, though?"

Early April of this year, several days of odd happenings were reported all through the globe. Said odd happenings affected wizard and muggle children alike, and although they had been dismissed as nightmares at first, many children presented symptoms similar to those suffered after exposure to dementors. Groups had been mobilized all over the world, aiming to locate new fleets of the dark creatures even if there were no adult cases to speak of.

Everything ended abruptly when a strong magical disturbance was recorded within American territory. Wizard authorities hadn't gotten to the town of Burgess until the disturbance was over, mostly because whatever had happened affected the basic means of magical travel: apparition and floo travel. What had been recorded were the remains of strange magic substances, of the like that weren't seen more than once in a century and were strictly under the jurisdiction of whatever Department of Mysteries that was closest to the area.

A couple days later, a Government worker walked into Mr. Grund's library to ask for the nearest bar of their kin, and got treated to the tale of the silly dreams of Mr. Grund's daughter. According to Mr. Grund, she had probably eaten far too much candy before bed, which ended up in amusing adventures involving unicorns made out of golden sand and huge scary black-sand greyhounds.

Dogs and horses aside, the fact that the magical disturbance had left behind traces of Dream Sand had been kept until tight wraps. So they had their first witness, and Aurors from every country that had ever encountered the same type of substance or been victim of the children-depressing happenings were taking International Portkeys into America.

Harry had arrived a day later than most because the Auror initially appointed for this mission had gotten his right leg jinxed off in a training exercise, and Harry was apparently the second most appealing to be sent overseas.

Being the Boy-Who-Lived and the Dark-Lord-Vanquisher was a big deal in both Europe and America, but it hadn't made his appointed American partner, Auror Henry Conway, any happier with him. As if being held back in the office for a whole day to wait for a celebrity wasn't enough, Harry's accent was apparently as offensive as his assumption that he could take the lead in a country not his own. Neither of those two last things were on purpose, but it was all the same to Conway.

"Dad says," Cupcake finally said, shifting her gaze from her mom and back to Harry. "Dad says the cops have been mind-wiping normal people all week."

Well, with the Government agents scouting the whole area to try and find the remains of the magic pulse, it was only logic a few muggles would have to be Oblivated. The reports said it wasn't more than five, though, and those were mostly due to poor judgment during investigation.

"I heard about that. You don't have to worry, though, there's no way they would Oblivate you or your mum and dad."

The girl shifted restlessly, arms crossed over her chest and eyes on the table. "I know."

It was a few moments of silence before Harry finally realized what was wrong.

"Cupcake, did your friends see something that night, too?" There were no other wizard children recorded in town, either muggle-born or from magical families, and it would be strange if the girl had been out at night all by herself for no reason. The way her shoulders lifted defensively was very telling, too. "Cupcake..."

"I don't want them to get their minds wiped," she said, sinking into her chair further.

He had to hold back a sigh, and instead fiddled his thumbs thoughtfully. He didn't think the children were going to get Oblivated, a least not without an expert Legilimens to sort out what to erase from their memories. The incident had been so long ago, they wouldn't need to only erase the night's events, but any mention of them afterwards. Ten years ago, they would have done it in a heartbeat, but politics changed, and it might just be more trouble than it was worth to mention it.

Harry considered the situation carefully, and tossed a look over to the backdoor, which was halfway open. Conway was a ways off the house, having a cigarette, and likely not paying attention to them at all. And if he hadn't been so unpleasant to Harry all day, he might have felt a bit guilty about what he was going to do next.

"Tell you what, Cupcake. You tell me what happened that night, and I'll make sure no one mind-wipes your friends. I'll even get the other coppers off your back."

* * *

"Are you cold, Potter?" Conway asked with a frown. "Isn't England freaking freezing all the time?"

"Not really." Harry pulled his red-and-gold scarf tighter around his neck as they made their way down the slippery streets. The weather today was very fresh, but nothing like it was at home. Still, his scarf smelled like home, so he would never waste an opportunity to wear it. "This is my favourite scarf. My wife knit it for me."

"Cute." His tone left it clear he considered it anything but. He pulled out another cigarette, and Harry resisted the urge to complain about the smell. "What did the girl tell you, then?"

"You've already read my notes." His notepad was secure in Conway's coat pocket, even. "She said a bad man made out of darkness was giving children nightmares, but a group of magical heroes came in and drove him away."

"Don't tell me you actually believe what you wrote here?" he patted his breast pocket disbelievingly, giving Harry a look-over as if to make sure he hadn't been paired up with a crazy man. "Santa Claus? The Easter Bunny? Sandman?" He scoffed. "Don't be so naïve, rookie. I'm starting to think she's not even a witness, she just dreamed up the whole thing."

"I don't think she's lying."

As a child, there had been many occasions when his words were dismissed as hallucinations or lies in order to get attention. Some things were hard to believe in Cupcake's testimony, yes, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. Maybe she was just giving a familiar name to things she didn't understand, but Harry was willing to bet his badge she really had seen some sort of battle that night. The flowing surge of magic recorded had been punctuated by energy spikes akin to strong, short blasts of power, likely offensive in nature.

"Of course you don't."

Harry was getting fed-up with Conway's little jabs and comments. Having gone through six years of classes with Severus Snape, he was used to the sneering and the insults, but that didn't mean he had to put up with them.

"Listen, Conway, I've had enough of—"

"We're here," the senior Auror cut him off, tossing the cig butt to the ground and stepping on it.

Releasing a breath through flaring nostrils, Harry turned his attention towards the park they'd arrived at. It was a large area that sloped down towards a slanted rock formation. Just beyond, Harry thought he could see the edge of a frozen lake, which couldn't be safe for the children living nearby. Yet, he could see a couple children playing around in the snow, which was actually quite thick in this area.

"Is it me, or is it colder here?" Harry asked, watching his breath come out in a white mist and drift away into the air.

"Focus, Potter." Conway was already marching into the park, his shiny black loafers sinking into the snow with each step. His fitting black boots now looked like a better idea than before, even if he didn't look 'professional' in them.

There were three children at the park that Harry could see: a tall girl and two boys, tossing snow balls at each other and laughing loudly. While most of their shots were very accurate, their aim wound sometimes veer way off, smacking down on the ground several feet off any other child. Their cheeks were flushed and their eyes shone with mirth, using trees and rocks as shields and then crossing over onto the lake—

"Oi!"

All the kids stopped right away, obviously not having noticed them approaching. Harry offered them a wide smile.

"Kids, please be careful, that ice must be thinning by now."

"Oh," the girl said, glancing from them to her friends, and off to the other side of the park, before shrugging. They all dropped their snow balls, and made their way to the edge of the frozen lake. "Okay. Sorry."

"There's good lads. Sorry to interrupt your game."

"It's cool," said the shortest of the kids, a blond boy with glasses a bit large for his face. He might have been shrugging his shoulders, but the thickness of his coat made it hard to tell.

"We'll just play over there," the girl added, and they trotted off towards the trees. Harry watched them for a while, wondering if they might be Cupcake's friends. They looked to be around her age, but for the girl's peace of mind, he hadn't asked for names or description.

A dull sound came from somewhere to his right, and he found Auror Conway had stepped onto the ice, and was currently stomping on it with one foot. Content with the fact it wasn't going to break, he advanced towards the wall of stone nearby, inspecting the whole area carefully.

Cupcake had described this park to him when she mentioned the magical heroes that had helped them out, and for all his dismissal of the girl's tae, Conway was obviously looking for anything they could have left behind. In an open space so popular with children, it would be hard to find anything still remaining in the area, even more when you considered the fact it had been several days since the incident. It wasn't only muggle technology which had come a long way in the past few decades, though, and Harry could see the outline of Conway's fist grasping something in his pocket.

Since stepping into the lake himself only got Conway barking that he should follow his own advice and that the ice might give out with two grown men on it, Harry turned his attention back towards the children.

They quickly looked away when his eyes landed on them, but subtlety wasn't their fort.

He trudged his way up the sloppy hill towards them, watching them mutter among themselves quietly.

"Hello," he began, digging into his pocket and pulling out a leather sheath. Flipping it open revealed his Auror badge, charmed to mimic the badge of the nearest muggle police force if a non-magic person happened to look at it. "I'm Detective Harry Potter, and my partner over there is Detective Henry Conway. I was wondering if I could ask you a couple questions."

The children shared a look, and sent a glance behind them as though to see if there was anyone else nearby.

"You're the people that have been going to Cupcake's house all week, right?" the girl said, still peering at his badge from under her white cap.

"She's not in any trouble, is she?" the blonde boy asked, not giving Harry a chance to answer.

"Cupcake looks a bit tough on the outside, but she's actually a really nice girl!" the last boy added earnestly.

He'd definitely found the girl's friends, then.

"Calm down, now, she's not in any trouble. We just needed her to help us out in the investigation, is all. Could I get your names, so I know who I'm speaking to?"

"I'm Monty Bertrand— er, do you actually need our full names?" the blonde boy asked, pushing his frames up his small nose.

"Just your first name will do." He definitely wasn't going to include them into a report.

"Well, I'm Pippa, and this is Jamie." The boy offered a little wave when being introduced. "So, huh, how can we help you, Detective Potter?"

"Harry is fine," he said, pulling out his fountain pen before realizing he had nothing to write on, because Conway still had his notepad. It would be for the best, though: if Conway asked, he was just entertaining the children while he carried on with the investigation. He just checked over his shoulder to make sure his babysitter was distracted. If he heard Harry divulging secret information to muggle children, he'd go from hating him to wanting him death. With a frozen lake nearby, he'd prefer to avoid possible murder attempts.

"I'm not really sure where to begin. I suppose the first thing in order would be to ask if you've seen anything strange on the last few days. Say, on April the tenth, past midnight?"

Their eyes widened slightly and they shared another look. Again, he saw them glance behind them, and Jamie's eyes lingered for a little longer, almost like he was watching someone move next to him...

Harry frowned, and directed his eyes to where the child was looking. There was nothing there at all, but just as he was thinking that, he felt a freezing breeze brush against his side, tussling up his hair something fierce. He held on to his scarf tightly so it wouldn't fly off, only realizing that the children were laughing once he'd secured it tighter around his neck.

They stopped laughing when he got his eyes back on them, though they were obviously making an effort for some reason.

"Um, what sort of strange things?" asked Pippa, managing to control her laughter the quickest.

Harry considered them suspiciously. They were definitely muggles, he knew that because of the badge he'd shown them. But there was also something weird going on here, and Harry wasn't sure what. He thought there must be someone invisible around here, but he couldn't think of any device, magical or muggle, that would make one invisible to wizards but visible to magical folk.

But whoever it was seemed to be having one over him.

"Paranormal," he decided to say, because it would be safer than getting caught saying 'magic', and watched as the kids' eyes widened again.

"Are you sure you're a detective?" asked Monty, his nose scrunched and eyes narrowed in disbelief. "Because normal grown-ups, and policemen most of all, wouldn't believe in that sort of unusual stuff."

"Well, I never said I was a normal detective," he stated, watching the children carefully. They didn't look like they believed what he said, but they appeared curious, and that would have to be enough. "I know it will sound crazy. My partner certainly thinks I'm barmy. But I think something very strange happened that night, and I just want to know the truth."

Maybe he'd finally gotten through to them. If there was one thing Harry had wanted while growing up, it was a grown-up who would listen to what he had to say without dismissing it as a childish lie.

"We actually did see something that night," Jamie said at last, scratching the back of his head. "There was a bad man, called Pitch, and he was turning everyone's dreams into nightmares. And, huh, I think he was trying to hurt me."

That last part was new. Cupcake hadn't mentioned anything like that.

"Hurt you?" Harry repeated. Jamie was only a couple years younger than his oldest boy, James, and the fact that some evil entity was after him didn't sit well with Harry. And it was also too familiar for comfort. He found his eyes taking in the boy's whole shape, as if to make sure he wasn't bruised or had broken anything.

"Yeah, 'cause I was the only kid in the world who still believed," he explained. At Harry's nod, and after looking at something over Harry's shoulder, the boy continued: "In the Guardians, I mean."

"Wait, Jamie," Monty said suddenly, grabbing his arm and leaning in closer to whisper to him. He didn't keep his voice as low as he thought, though. "Who says this isn't someone from Area fifty-one or something? The government could be trying to cover up everything, just like with bigfoot!"

Oh, how right the kid was, Harry wasn't allowed to divulge. Fortunately, he wasn't in charge of cover-up, and so long as he didn't reveal anything about the Wizarding World, he _technically_ wouldn't be breaking the International Statute of Secrecy.

"I'm not from Area fifty-one." Whatever that was. "And I really have no interest in covering up Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. It would be too much trouble, since they're so popular with children."

Their eyes widened again, and Monty in particular looked very happy.

"I knew adults were in on it!" he said, all but jumping up and down in place.

"Looks like it," Harry said, though his smile felt a bit fake this time. It wasn't like he didn't believe something had happened, he just didn't think it was what the kids thought. Jamie had mentioned 'Guardians', and maybe that was what they were looking for.

"Do you really believe in them?" Jamie asked, and he had a funny sort of smile, like he knew Harry wasn't being completely honest. "Even... even in Jack Frost?"

Jack Frost was not as well-known as the other childhood figures Cupcake had mentioned to him, and Harry didn't think he'd ever heard him mentioned in the Wizarding World. It was very old lore, but maybe it was more common in snowy places of America?

"Yeah, even him," he nodded.

Jamie continued giving him that look, and then his eyes darted meaningfully to somewhere to his right, like tracking movement. Monty and Pippa could see it, too, and Harry felt some frustration build up at the fact he couldn't see what they did. His wand felt warm in his coat pocket, and his hand itched with the need to grab it and cast in his vicinity. After the year he spent camping out and avoiding Death Eaters, and then over a decade of Auror experience, he knew loads of spells that would tell him if there was anyone nearby.

"You don't actually believe in him," Jamie stated matter-of-factly. He wasn't being snotty, either: he looked more sympathetic than anything.

Harry sighed, pushing his hands into his pocket in disappointment. "Why would you say that?"

"If you believed in him, you would be able to see him."

"But just because you believe in something won't make you able to see it," Harry argued, frowning slightly. "I mean, I believe there's oxygen around me, but..."

He trailed off, not only because of the children's shared look that just said they knew he was going to say that, but because he himself realized how ridiculous he was being. Why, Harry was a wizard, and he had seen all sorts of things as he grew up, each defying muggle logic in new ways. And grown-ups didn't always know better, himself included. Luna wouldn't have doubted the kid for a second! So why not?

Maybe, he told himself, maybe it wasn't that the children were trying to give names to unknown magical events. Maybe they were right, and they really had seen Santa Claus that night, just like they had seen the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Sandman, and even...

"-never going to believe that," a new voice was saying, and Harry blinked. "I told you, Jamie, adults are all hopeless. There's not much you can do about it."

Slowly, Harry turned around, easily locating the source of the voice as an unhealthily-pale teenager, with stark white hair and the most icy blue eyes Harry had ever seen in his life. He was leaning against a crooked wooden staff, and despite being barefoot on the fresh snow and very thinly dressed, he didn't look uncomfortable in the cold. He was also looking straight at Harry with raised eyebrows, and a slightly unnerved expression.

"I can't tell if he's actually looking at me, or at his grumpy friend," he told the kids, taking his eyes off Harry to direct them to the lake. Conway was inspecting a small nook between the snow-topped rocks, though, and hadn't even looked over to them for the past fifteen minutes.

"Conway is a git alright," Harry offered, feeling a small smile tug at the corners of his lips. It seemed that new wonders weren't exclusive property of the Wizard culture. "But yes, I'm looking at you. And no offense, but… you're not what I would have expected Old Man Winter to look like."

Jack Frost opened and closed his mouth a few times, before finally settling with a boyish smile, his hands tightening around the staff.

"Huh, none taken. It's nice to meet a grown-up, I guess. Haven't talked to a normal one in over three hundred years."

"So it's not only kids who can see you?" Jamie asked, reminding Harry that the children were still there.

"Guess not. I don't think normal adults would be this easy to convince, though," Frost said, walking a wide circle around them.

Harry could see the dents where his feet touched the snow now, but he knew they hadn't been there before the boy became visible. Was this part of the whole seeing-is-believing thing?

"I've seen my share of weird stuff," he offered. "Anyhow, Mr. Frost, could I ask _you_ some questions abut April the tenth?"

"Nope!" A hard wind picked up at a gesture of Frost's arm, lifting him off the ground and above Harry's head.

Harry's hand-knit scarf took off as well, and he couldn't get his hands out of his pockets fast enough to grab it off the air. He didn't need to worry, though, because it tangled around Frost's staff as he gave a small twirl on the air. For a moment, Harry was just jealous he could actually fly, and without even a broom!

"Wow, this thing is fluffy," Frost declared a minute later, once he'd finished his airborne jumping and raining of snowflakes for the children's delight.

"My wife knit it for me, so if you'd give it back," Harry explained, taking off his glasses to wipe the melting snowflakes off the surface. He was going to put them back on when an unsettlingly cold hand caught his wrist.

"Woah, woah, hold on." He could barely make out Frost's blurry face in front of him, and squinting only showed him squinting back at Harry. "I know you."

Harry hummed and claimed his hand back from the icy-feeling teen so he could actually see the world around him. "Well, I'm pretty sure I don't know you."

"No, no, you totally do!" Frost was grinning wide, and his teeth were as white as freshly-fallen snow. It was unnatural, but so was everything else about him. "You just didn't know it was me. It was a long time ago, and you were much younger. You were being chased by fat bullies, and I helped you off the ground and—"

"—onto the school roof," Harry finished, eyes widening with realization. For the last few years, he'd just assumed he'd either flown due to his own magic, or just apparated onto the roof in the middle of his panic. Apparently, his initial assessment that the wind had picked him up hadn't been so far off. "That was _you_? You can do that?"

"He can!" Jamie piped up with hard nods of the head. "It's awesome!"

"Hahaha!" Frost seemed cheered by the idea, glancing at Harry every few second while he worked on untangling his scarf from the staff. "Man, you've gotten old. You didn't use to wear glasses, back then."

"I did, too, they just fell off and broke somewhere between the ground and the roof," Harry argued. Aunt Petunia hadn't been too happy about that, either. Frost had handed back his scarf, and he set to pulling it over his neck. "So, since we've gotten chummy here, can I get some answers now?"

"Sorry, dude, but I said no. I'm just not sure I'm allowed to say anything work-related. But I'll get back to you, okay? Attaboy!"

And he was off in the air before Harry could grab his arm. Pulling out his wand to stun him was definitely out of the question, too, because of the muggle factor.

"Darn," he sighed, turning back to the children. "How about you guys, then?"

"We actually need to get going, it's almost time for dinner," said Pippa. All of them were already fixing their clothes to head out of the park, waving their goodbyes at him.

"I'm sure Jack will come see you, Harry," said Jamie, smiling wide at him. "You can always trust him. He won't let you down!"

They dislodged little rocks and mounds of snow on their way up the slope. Harry thought there was far too much snow for mid April, and now he knew who to blame it on. The sky, which had been a bit cloudy before, was now completely clear and bright blue, and the lake Conway was standing on probably wouldn't be very safe to be on within a few hours.

His partner was approaching, holding two objects in his hand. One was a standard evidence vial, containing maybe two pinches of sand, which shone weakly under the sunlight. The other was what looked like a simple piece of thorn black clothing, but it fluttered in a strange way, and Harry could sense a strange dark presence within it.

"Look at this, Potter," Conway's grin was fiercely proud, to say the least, and he waved the evidence in front of Harry's face, lording it over him. "I think the guys at HQ will be happy to see I've broadened out our core scene."

"That's very impressive, Auror Conway."

Never mind it was Harry who'd gotten the park's location from Cupcake. Or that they were supposedly a team, with no 'I' on it.

But if Conway wanted, he could keep his little victory. Meanwhile, Harry decided he wouldn't tell him about his own advances, at least until he had the answers to what had gone down in Burgess and across the globe. If his past experience had taught him anything, it was that authorities didn't believe in anything but solid proofs. And if he didn't have them, he'd be better off keeping his mouth shut, even as the Dark-Lord-Vanquisher.

Conway put away the evidence in his inner coat pocket and walked off, looking mighty uncomfortable in his frozen shoes and possibly-soaked socks. Harry knew they would be heading to the apparition point to talk to the Unspeakables before he could even head back to his hotel room.

He had to look back one last time, to the frozen surface of the lake that just seemed to call out to him.

"Jack Frost, huh?"

The world was just full of surprises, wasn't it?

* * *

- Extra A/N:

_We all know the first names of the children in the movie, but only know Jamie's last name, which is Bennett. So any names you haven't heard, they're not canon. For example:  
_

_Candace Grund (Cupcake) / (Monty) Bertrand: I made up "Candace", because I wanted something that started with 'C'. Grund and Bertrand are the last names for the character's voice actors, though._


End file.
